Regional week begins on Tuesday with the Region II Championships being held at Panorama Farms in Charlottesville and ends on Saturday with the Central Region Championships being held at Pole Green Park in Mechanicsville. on Wednesday, two regional meets were held with the Region III Championships and Region B Championships. The Hidden Valley girls did it again and knocked off a top ranked Blacksburg squad at the Region IV Meet for the third consecutive year. Of course in the past two upsets, Blacksburg has been able to bounce back and win the Group AA state title the next week. We will see if history repeats itself next week at Great Meadow as two of the state's best teams face off once again.
Coverage
Tommy Curtin of Loudoun County won his first regional title in 16:08, while the Potomac Falls boys repeated as team champions
Allison Bartels (Brentsville) wins in 18:58, while Brentsville girls with 64 points.
Thomas Curtin of Loudoun County has had a breakthrough junior season of cross country capped off with a 16:08 Region II title on Tuesday at Panorama Farms.
Brentsville senior Allison Bartels repeated as Region II champion with a 18:58 5K win to help her team also to victory as well.
The Brentsville girls came through in crunch time to overtake the favored Western Albemarle girls for the Region II team title behind the successful individual repeat by senior Allison Bartels who outran Loudoun County's Julie Strange for a five second 18:58 win. The order and list of boys team qualifiers could not have been predicted by any knowledgeable expert on the region as the Skyline boys qualified for their first state meet ever led by freshmen Thomas Madden and from the Jefferson District, it will be the Monticello boys and not Western Albemarle who will move onto state competition as team. Like the Brentsville girls, Potomac Falls boys are looking like a state meet podium squad in their repeat as Region II champions as a one second spread for their top three runners finishing among the top 15 sparked their charge. Thomas Curtin of Loudoun County continued his breakthrough junior cross country season in winning the individual regional crown with a 16:08 performance at Panorama Farms, which is 17 places better and over a minute faster than his sophomore year regional race. Complete results, race videos, and video interviews with Bartels & Curtins posted. Photo gallery to be posted soon.
Loudoun County and Western Albemarle could enjoy championships twice on Tuesday at the Region II Championships in Charlottesville. There is a serious individual contender from Loudoun County in both races as Thomas Curtin (pictured left by Frank Locascio) and Julie Strange have both established themselves as race favorites with strong season best performances last month on the regional course at the competitive Albemarle Invitational. Curtin has been a great story this fall from starting off as a virtual unknown to now be considered as a darkhorse to win the Group AA state title and at least set himself up in great position to become a state champion as a senior in 2010. The Western Albemarle boys and girls have the smallest time difference for their top five among the top contender teams, which could seal a sweep of regional team titles if both squads are able to close the door on their team scoring well ahead of the other challengers' fifth runners with their tight packs.
